I have some questions regarding Sorcery in Feng Shui 2.
Observe Chi is listed as a Fertility schtick in the Sorcery section, but as a Divination schtick in the Sorcerer archetype. Which should it be? (This obviously makes a difference to the Sack of Scrolls schtick.)
If I hit a named foe with a successful attack, succeeding with an Outcome of 2, say, can I use Harvest Chi? (In other words, effectively producing an Outcome of -1 and doing damage of 8 instead of 9?)
The big one: no archetype gains access to Influence schticks on Awesoming Up. The Sorcerer doesn't, the Magic Cop doesn't, even the Ghost (who starts with Influence schticks) doesn't. I assume this is a mistake. Which of the Sorcery using archetypes should be able to gain Influence schticks?
I am not an official authority on the rules, but I figured I'd throw in my two cents.
I'm inclined to say it belongs in Fertility, as that's the specialty where everything related to chi energy goes. As far as the Scroll of Spells goes... this gives the Sorcerer access to Bend Fate (an excellent debuff against bosses), De-Attunement (another useful debuff against bosses), and Doom Boon, which recharges all your Magic Points if you have at least 2 Magic Points left when you succeed on an Up Check. I'm not sure if all that really creates balance issues with a Sorcerer. Does anyone have any playtesting info on this one?
Hmmm. Tricky. I'm inclined to say yes, outcome is -1 and damage would be 8 instead of 9. The effect would essentially be "subtract 3 damage from a successful attack to gain 1 magic point". I could also see an argument that the attack essentially fails because the outcome is negative, but you do get the magic point.
I am not entirely sure how many groups really stick religiously to the Awesoming Up lists, or if most groups just pick whatever schtick they really want. There's a "Sorcerous Tinkering" side bar on page 161 that says you can switch around the schticks if you've already played a sorcerer before and want to try something different, so long as the GM agrees. The same can be said for Awesoming Up: you can ask the GM, "Can I get this schtick?", and if the GM agrees, you could pick up Influence schticks that way.
Thank you for the reply, I appreciate you taking your time. I was hoping for an official answer but I guess the game has been out a while and any officials involved have shuffled on to a different Cosmic Bureaucracy.
I have played a Sorcerer, but only once. The Scroll of Spells feels very potent, but in practice, I only used it for one thing. If we played more often, I'm sure I'd rock with it, but I'm not sure it would be overpowered - probably instead used to plug utility gaps or give a slight combat edge to the (combat, relatively weak) Sorcerer.
Having just checked through the Archetypes as detailed in the second printing, it's interesting to note that there's still no Archetype with the Sorcery: Influence speciality listed as a possible Advancement category.
Or is that what those Lotus sorcerers with Influence want us to think?
